a lipsmacking journey through life. Food, travel and lifestyle stories.

Sunday, January 31, 2016

Taste of Arabian nights :cafe tehran, Candolim Goa

One of the best things about living in a popular holiday
destination is the opportunity to meet people from interesting places and
backgrounds. Many who journey through Goa , have lost their hearts to this
place and found themselves a new home. One such couple is the Irani duo Anita
and Sam, who now run a bed and breakfast called the Café Tehran in Candolim and
they are open for lunch and dinner for guests as well.

Ambience: Anita and Sam
khosroshahi , had originally thought of opening an Indian restaurant in Iran,
lucky for us then , that they decided to open an Iranian place in India instead.Thus,
Café Tehran. The seating is very much like sitting in the backyard of a house,
open air, and under the trees. The house itself is the lodging where they have
four rooms to let. Done up in complimentary colours and paintings of elfin
women , the interiors are eclectic and reminiscent of Persian mystique.

Food: It is said that every Persian dish is a pretext to
break in to verse .Persia is well known for it’s gastronomy and poetry. The
names of the dishes itself had a lyrical quality as Anita Tolalo walked us
though the menu. We began with Doogh, a savoury yogurt based drink with dried
mint and mohammedi flower, it is not unlike the gujarati chaas.

The omnipresent Hummus, and another dip known as Kashke
Bademjan made from roasted eggplants hint towards the Ottoman influences in the
Persian cuisine. Aubergines infact are known as the “potato of Iran” due to its
popularity in their cuisine.

The kebabs ARE the highlight of café Tehran and are a carnivores dream come true.
Vegetarians , I am sure they have options for you as well, but we enjoyed our
meat fest too much to enquire about the veg options. Succulent chenjeh kebabs,
which were charcoal grilled chunks of lamb, were followed by shishleek what tasted a lot like the Indian Seekh
kebabs but with saffron and a middle eastern spice mix. The Joojeh kebabs were
moist , tender pieces of chicken in a tangy tomato dressing. The kebab roli,
which are roullades of chicken with crunchy carrrots and crisp cucumbers in the
center give a sense of healthy balance.

Delightfully
different and yet comfortingly familiar , these kebabs reminded of the northern
frontier cuisine so very loved and appreciated in India, we call it all
‘mughlai’, but there are finer nuances to each of the regions in the middle
east, including Iran.

Accompaniments or mokhalafat are essential to every Iranian
meal, and it includes a plate of fresh herbs known as sabzi khordan. The sabzi
khordan on our table were plates full of fresh coriander, cilantro, basil, mint
sprigs, and radish.mouthfuls of fresh greens between morselfuls of meat is the
Iranian way to a balanced meal of meat and veggies.

Next came the rice dishes. Tahchin or rice cakes, are
essentially steamed rice cooked with yogurt and chicken or meat, the golden
brown rice at the bottom of the pan turns crisp and when the pan is served
upside down, the crusted crisp rice from the bottom of the pan ‘tahdig’ holds
the rice together in the form of a cake. The tahdig not only looks visually
appealing but adds texture to the savoury pulao type dish.

The zereshk polo was a sweeter rice dish with carrots,pomegranates
and dry fruits. Both the Tahchin and the polo reminded me of the Indian pulao
and biryanis. Just when I was craving for some ‘raita’ to go with my ‘biryani’,
along came the mast-o’khiar which is a yogurt and cucumber dip with salt,sugar
and dry mint and tasted not surprisingly just like the familiar raita.

Dessert of sholezard an overcooked rice and sweet milk
‘payassam ‘ kind of dish. Yakh dar behesht
which loosely translates to ice in paradise is a delicately flavoured
cold pudding of milk, sugar and starch along with spices. They were cold and
smooth and literally skated along the tongue to their most satisfying end.

Irani cuisine has been celebrated across India, whether in
the form of the renowned chelo kebabs of the iconic Peter pan on Parkstreet,
Kolkatta, or the Irani chai in the bylanes near Charminar, or the keema pao
breakfasts at the Irani cafes in Mumbai. Falooda and sheeshas have been
ambassadors of the middle east for long, and for a taste of the Arabian nights,
we now have Café Tehran in Candolim.

Candolim can be tricky to find stand alone Bed and Breakfasts’s
since there are so many this time of the year, but follow the road behind Ducle
hospital, and along Sonesta Inn to get here.

About Me

There was a time when I was finicky about food, now I am fanatic about it! There isn't anthing I wouldn't try atleast once. Life is to be lived one glorious adventure at a time. I wear many hats. The compassionate doctor, the marathon movie watcher, , the moody philosopher and the adventurour foodie and wanderlust traveller.doctor by profession, a foodie by passion and a writer at heart.